A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending a symposium organized by our company for the first time. It was an incredible experience that inspired me. The day started with our CEO, Jonathan Fletcher, sharing insights on the CFC journey "beyond the mountain", and how we become the best tech organisation in insurance.
Next, we had an inspirational talk delivered by Derek Redmond OLY on the topic of "Raising the Bar."
He shared this quote that stuck in my head - "You are not working outside your comfort zone; you are increasing the size of your comfort zone.." I see this as an expansion of the most famous quote "stepping out of the comfort zone."
He then mentioned that you should not expect different results by doing the same thing. Do things differently to get different results, and I completely agree with this. Derek then gave a few examples, one of which was about how Airbnb became a hugely successful marketplace without owning a product. He shared this example to convey the message "To go above and beyond, do things differently." Resilience is so much needed when you're trying to do things differently.
He then shared his emotional Olympic story of getting injured mid-race during the Barcelona 1992 Olympics. It was really emotional to see how Derek had his hamstring injury mid-race
semi-final but continued the race limping and, with help from his father, managed to complete a full lap of the track and the crowd gave him a standing ovation. His courage to never give up! He was injured but still wanted to finish the race, and how he broke down while his dad walked with him. Champions of today are losers of yesterday who never gave up.
He then shared this framework, which I found very helpful and a key takeaway - ADAPT
A - Acceptance is key. In his example, it was about accepting the injury.
D - Direction/Destination , Taking a break due to injury won't change the direction, as it's still the same.
A - Alternative, exploring different possibilities and considering alternative courses of action.
P - Process/Procedure/Plan
T - Transition the path into an action
Next up we had our Group CEO, Louise O and here's another quote that was stuck with me - "Everything everywhere can be improved at all times". I soo much agree to this. There's always room for improvement in anything thar we do.
Aside from the insightful talks, we also enjoyed a lovely lunch and networking session at Symposium 2024. It was very well organized, and it was a great way to take a break from everyday work, come together to reflect, and look ahead as a company. I'm already eagerly anticipating next year's event.
And how could I forget to mention the location? The views were incredible and stunning. I'm sure you would agree with me. π
